Crupper harness



Aug. 30, 1938. J'. K. oTTLx-:Y

CRUPPER HARNESS f Filed May 13, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l ....7 hv PJ vu..

Aug. 30, 1938. Y J, K OTTLEY 2,128,498

CRUPPER4 HARNESS I Filed May 13, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F IVE. 2.

.Jwue/ulof/ l JOHN K. OTTLEX Patented Aug. 30, 1938 unirsi stars FATET OFFIQE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a crupper harness. The object of the invention is to maintain` the crupper itself on the horse firmly and yet comfortably for the animal, without any fastening connection of the crupper with-the saddle or back band, and the belly band.

Another object of my invention is to fasten a v part of the harness, comprising back straps, to each upper post of the crupper and thence directly to the breast strap.

Another object of my invention is to overlap these back-straps of the harness by making one strap cross the other at about the middle of the horses back, so as to tend to keep these straps well up over the middle of the back as distin.- guished from having them droop down low on the sides of the horses body, and to carry these straps forward to .a connection with the breast strap, so that all the strains in holding the crupper will be exerted only against the breast strap.

Another object of my invention is to connect the lower post of the crupper with side straps which extend along the sides of the horses body forward and downward where they are connected with the martingale strap which runs from the breast strap down over the breast of the horse and thence between his front legs until meeting these side straps. f

And a still further object is to utilize the saddle or. back-strap and the belly-band to carry guide loops through which the several back straps and side straps are threaded, so as to the more effectively cause the back-straps and side straps to keep their desired position. But it must be understood that the back straps and side straps, and/ or martingale, have free movement back and for.- ward without in any wise connecting with the saddle and bellyband.

And, finally, a further purpose is to interpose a keeper between the side straps and the martingale, so that the horse will beprotected from abrasion caused by the connection between the side straps and the martingale.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my crupper harness as it appears when placed upona horse.

Figure 2 is a plan view of this harness, removed from the horse and shown with the parts just as they are when the harness is placed on the animal.

Figure 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the crupper itself, which is not novel, but with which my harness is used.

55 train their tails to assume a graceful position upward and downward. `Usually a minor operation is rst performed on the tail by severing two minor cords for the purpose of enabling the root of the tail to be positioned nrst on the crupper; and secondly, to more readily assume this upward 5 position constantly after the crupper is removed from the tail.

The crupper has a body portion l in which the tail is placed and which holds it in the desired position. A projection 2 on each side of the crupper extends in a forward direction for the purpose presently to appear. And similarly the crupper has two horn-like posts 3, one at each side. To these projections and posts the harness straps are connected whereby to hold the crupper in its place on the horse. I secure the rear end of two backstraps and 4a to these posts, one back-strap to each horn or post. A convenient connection is composed of a link 5 connected with each post and a snap-hook 5 connected to each back strap. 'Ihese back straps are so placed ask to overlap or cross each other where they pass over the longitudinal center of the horses back as seen in Figure 2. Thus the right-hand back-strap Il is secured to the left-hand post 3, and the left-hand back-strap 4a is secured to the right-hand post 3.

From the intersection of these straps the righthand proceeds to and is connected with the righthand portion of the breast-strap at l, passing loosely through the loop 8 to prevent the strap from sagging downward. This loop is attached to the saddle or back-band 9. The left-hand strap likewise passes through another loop t secured to the saddle 9 and goes thence to the left-hand portion of the breast strap as indicated at It). 35

To adjust the lengths of the back-straps 4 and lla, they are each equipped with .a buckle i l.

` It will be observed that the strains on the back-straps 4 and da are communicated to the breast-strap which, when on the horse, passes around his breast at the usual place for applying breast straps against which the horse moves forward in conveying the; vehicle. On other harnesses collars with hames are used instead of a breast-strap. But for the purpose of this invention the collar is` the equivalent of the breast- `strap because the back-straps may be connected to a collar instead'of a. breast-strap though the latter is preferred and will be more generally used to hold the. back-straps in tension so that they may aid in maintaining the crupper proper to its position on the horse. That the breaststrap is so well adapted to cross the breast and bear against the horses shoulders is my reason for connecting these back-straps to the breast- 55 strap, the general body of which is indicated at l2.

Referring now to the side-straps I3, it will be seen from the drawings, Figures 1 and 2, that these side-straps are secured to the short projections 2 preferably through a ring I 4. These side-straps pass forwardly and downwardly on the rear part of the horses body and are connected at their forward ends to the rear e-nd of the martingale l5. The rear end of the martingale is in the form of a keeper I6 to form a cushion by which to avoid chang the horse. The keeper carries a link Il to which is snapped a snap-hook I8 which is secured to the adjacent end of the side straps. The` martingale and/or keeper pass through a loop I9 so that they are sustained from drooping down but are free in a lengthwise direction, so that the strain or tension of the side-straps will be taken up by,

the martingale. To adjust the martingale it is preferably made with a section la which is secured to the breast strap and is connected with the martingale proper by means of a buckle 20 and a billet 2l.

Thus it will be understood that in my crupper harness the crupper is held in place on the rear portion of the horses body by back-straps, preferably crossed as described and connected to the upper posts of the crupper andthence to the breast strap. And again, the crupper is further held by the side straps connected to the short projection 2 of the crupper, whilethe side straps are connected to the martingale and through it with the breast-strap.

And it will be noted that while the back-straps and side-straps are held up from drooping or slipping downward by the loops: 8 and ES, still that there is no fastening connection between the back-straps and the saddle or back-band, and likewise no connection between the sidestraps and the belly-band. The straps that go through the loops 8 and 9 are not fastened thereto but are merely supported by the loops tol keep the straps from sagging down.

I may, or may not, use a conventional shoulder-strap 22 to keep the breast-strap from slipping downward out of position, but as the martingale will tend to draw downward on the breast strap, I shall, in some cases at least, use the shoulder strap to maintain the breast-strap at the desired place on the horses breast.

It will be understood that I desire tocomprehend within my invention such modifications as come within the scope of the claims and. the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. In a tail-elevating crupper harness for horses, the combination with back-straps connected toI the crupper at one end and loops to hold said back-straps from sagging downward, of a breast-strap to which the forward ends of the back-straps are connected, whereby the tension of the back-straps in holding the crupper is borne against the horses shoulders through the breast-strap.

2. In a tail-elevating crupper harness for horses, the combination with back-straps crossing each other and connected to the crupper at their rear ends, and loops through which the straps pass to prevent sagging, of a breast-strap to which the forward ends of the back-straps are secured, whereby the tension of the backstraps in holding the crupper is borne against the horses shoulders through the breast-strap.

3. In a tail-elevating crupper harness for horses, a pair of back-straps which cross each other and are connected to a crupper, and a breast-strap to which the forward ends of the back-straps are connected, and a pair of sidestraps also connected to the crupper, and a` martingale connected to the breast-strap and to said side-straps.

JOI-IN K. OTI'LEY. 

